U.S. Code > Title 2 The Congress > CHAPTER 14—FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS (§§ 431—457) > SUBCHAPTER I—DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FUNDS (§§ 431—442) > § 432. Organization of political committees

§ 432. Organization of political committees

(a) Treasurer; vacancy; official authorizations
Every political committee shall have a treas­urer. No contribution or expenditure shall be accepted or made by or on behalf of a political committee during any period in which the office of treasurer is vacant. No expenditure shall be made for or on behalf of a political committee without the authorization of the treasurer or his or her designated agent.
(b) Account of contributions; segregated funds
(1) Every person who receives a contribution for an authorized political committee shall, no later than 10 days after receiving such contribution, forward to the treasurer such contribution, and if the amount of the contribution is in excess of $50 the name and address of the person making the contribution and the date of receipt.
(2) Every person who receives a contribution for a political committee which is not an authorized committee shall—
(A) if the amount of the contribution is $50 or less, forward to the treasurer such contribution no later than 30 days after receiving the contribution; and
(B) if the amount of the contribution is in excess of $50, forward to the treasurer such contribution, the name and address of the person making the contribution, and the date of receipt of the contribution, no later than 10 days after receiving the contribution.
(3) All funds of a political committee shall be segregated from, and may not be commingled with, the personal funds of any individual.
(c) Recordkeeping
The treasurer of a political committee shall keep an account of—
(1) all contributions received by or on behalf of such political committee;
(2) the name and address of any person who makes any contribution in excess of $50, together with the date and amount of such contribution by any person;
(3) the identification of any person who makes a contribution or contributions aggregating more than $200 during a calendar year, together with the date and amount of any such contribution;
(4) the identification of any political committee which makes a contribution, together with the date and amount of any such contribution; and
(5) the name and address of every person to whom any disbursement is made, the date, amount, and purpose of the disbursement, and the name of the candidate and the office sought by the candidate, if any, for whom the disbursement was made, including a receipt, invoice, or canceled check for each disbursement in excess of $200.
(d) Preservation of records and copies of reports
The treasurer shall preserve all records required to be kept by this section and copies of all reports required to be filed by this subchapter for 3 years after the report is filed. For any report filed in electronic format under section 434 (a)(11) of this title, the treasurer shall retain a machine-readable copy of the report as the copy preserved under the preceding sentence.
(e) Principal and additional campaign committees; designations, status of candidate, authorized committees, etc.
(1) Each candidate for Federal office (other than the nominee for the office of Vice President) shall designate in writing a political committee in accordance with paragraph (3) to serve as the principal campaign committee of such candidate. Such designation shall be made no later than 15 days after becoming a candidate. A candidate may designate additional political committees in accordance with paragraph (3) to serve as authorized committees of such candidate. Such designation shall be in writing and filed with the principal campaign committee of such candidate in accordance with subsection (f)(1) of this section.
(2) Any candidate described in paragraph (1) who receives a contribution, or any loan for use in connection with the campaign of such candidate for election, or makes a disbursement in connection with such campaign, shall be considered, for purposes of this Act, as having received the contribution or loan, or as having made the disbursement, as the case may be, as an agent of the authorized committee or committees of such candidate.
(3)
(A) No political committee which supports or has supported more than one candidate may be designated as an authorized committee, except that—
(i) the candidate for the office of President nominated by a political party may designate the national committee of such political party as a principal campaign committee, but only if that national committee maintains separate books of account with respect to its function as a principal campaign committee; and
(ii) candidates may designate a political committee established solely for the purpose of joint fundraising by such candidates as an authorized committee.
(B) As used in this section, the term “support” does not include a contribution by any authorized committee in amounts of $2,000 or less to an authorized committee of any other candidate.
(4) The name of each authorized committee shall include the name of the candidate who authorized such committee under paragraph (1). In the case of any political committee which is not an authorized committee, such political committee shall not include the name of any candidate in its name.
(5) The name of any separate segregated fund established pursuant to section 441b (b) of this title shall include the name of its connected organization.
(f) Filing with and receipt of designations, statements, and reports by principal campaign committee
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, each designation, statement, or report of receipts or disbursements made by an authorized committee of a candidate shall be filed with the candidate’s principal campaign committee.
(2) Each principal campaign committee shall receive all designations, statements, and reports required to be filed with it under paragraph (1) and shall compile and file such designations, statements, and reports in accordance with this Act.
(g) Filing with and receipt of designations, statements, and reports by Secretary of Senate; forwarding to Commission; filing requirements with Commission; public inspection and preservation of designations, etc.
(1) Designations, statements, and reports required to be filed under this Act by a candidate for the office of Senator, by the principal campaign committee of such candidate, and by the Republican and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committees shall be filed with the Secretary of the Senate, who shall receive such designations, statements, and reports, as custodian for the Commission.
(2) The Secretary of the Senate shall forward a copy of any designation, statement, or report filed with the Secretary under this subsection to the Commission as soon as possible (but no later than 2 working days) after receiving such designation, statement, or report.
(3) All designations, statements, and reports required to be filed under this Act, except designations, statements, and reports filed in accordance with paragraph (1), shall be filed with the Commission.
(4) The Secretary of the Senate shall make the designations, statements, and reports received under this subsection available for public inspection and copying in the same manner as the Commission under section 438 (a)(4) of this title, and shall preserve such designations, statements, and reports in the same manner as the Commission under section 438 (a)(5) of this title.
(h) Campaign depositories; designations, maintenance of accounts, etc.; petty cash fund for disbursements; record of disbursements
(1) Each political committee shall designate one or more State banks, federally chartered depository institutions, or depository institutions the deposits or accounts of which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, or the National Credit Union Administration, as its campaign depository or depositories. Each political committee shall maintain at least one checking account and such other accounts as the committee determines at a depository designated by such committee. All receipts received by such committee shall be deposited in such accounts. No disbursements may be made (other than petty cash disbursements under paragraph (2)) by such committee except by check drawn on such accounts in accordance with this section.
(2) A political committee may maintain a petty cash fund for disbursements not in excess of $100 to any person in connection with a single purchase or transaction. A record of all petty cash disbursements shall be maintained in accordance with subsection (c)(5) of this section.
(i) Reports and records, compliance with requirements based on best efforts
When the treasurer of a political committee shows that best efforts have been used to obtain, maintain, and submit the information required by this Act for the political committee, any report or any records of such committee shall be considered in compliance with this Act or chapter 95 or chapter 96 of title 26.